Pictures with Santa

It's a time honored tradition for many families to take pictures with Santa.

This is E. during his first Christmas. My how time has just flown by.

A couple of years later and we have a less than happy E.

There were no more Santa pictures after that because the kids became shy, would run the other way, and or scream their heads off, making for a really horrible experience. I stopped taking them, UNTIL....

now...

R. asked me specifically if I would take him this year so that he could talk to Santa and "make" sure that he knew exactly what he wanted. That's R. for you. He tends to cover all his basis.

Of course, A. decided he had to tag along too because the bribery of a fun sized kit kat was just too good of a deal to pass up.

As far as E., who think Christmas is all about giving (so he refuses to ask for anything - yeah, he's the saint in our family), he joined the picture only after much begging from Mom.

So we headed out early, on a weekday in hopes of seeing Santa before noon. I thought, perhaps, the wait would be only a couple of hours (that's arriving 2 hours early). After 7.2 hours of waiting (that is NOT an exaggeration) with much reconsideration, my kids got to see and talk to Santa. It was worth the wait. If you are thinking whether or not we actually stood in line for 7.2 hours, we didn't. We got there a couple of hours early, to get a ticket. We shopped, had lunch, went home, and then drove back that evening. Is it worth it?

Look at the picture...that would be a definite yes.

I was able to snag a ton of pictures.

cost to see santa - 7.2 hours of waiting
cost for pictures - $0
cost for experience - priceless

I'm hoping they will do this again for me next year.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Sugar Cookies with the Kids

I love baking with the boys. It's something we do all the time. This week has been all about sugary treats at home so why not decorate some sugar cookies.

I'll have to admit that I wanted to skip the cooling stage of the cookie dough so I went and bought me a box mix for the sugar cookies. I decided to ice the cookies with a layer of frosting ahead of time so that it could dry and be ready for decorating the next day.

I used the royal icing recipe here. She gives a great tutorial on decorating cookies.

Royal Icing

1 cup water

6 Tbsp. meringue powder

1 tsp. vanilla extract (use clear vanilla if you want white icing)

1/2 tsp. lemon extract

2 lb. bag of powdered sugar

I had trouble finding the meringue powder (which is at Michael's - be sure to use your coupon!). The recipe was delicious, BUT it was way too much for what I needed. Next time, I will half the recipe or make only a fourth.

Mix the meringue powder and water until incorporated. Then add the vanilla and lemon extract. Add the powdered sugar and mix on high for about 10 minutes. It will be stiff. I used that consistency to outline the cookies. I divided the icing to color it. At that time, I would add tablespoons of water to the icing to thin it out (to fill the cookie with a smooth layer).

After icing ALL the cookies, I still had enough royal icing to fill 5 bottles (and then some).



We took out the candy, sprinkles, and whatever was edible to decorate.



The kids had so much fun.



Surprisingly, we decorated for quite some time and through out the day.



"Look at my cookie," A. says.



R. and Auntie made a couple.



Do you like it Mommy?



Some snowman creations.

"I wanted to decorate using patterns," E. tells me. For a boy who doesn't like sweets (yes, it is a strange concept for a kid), he didn't have trouble finishing this cookie (that was truly the first). Cookies are decorated, now we are onto our Gingerbread house.

Christmas Baking

Christmas is only a couple of days away. This year, I decided to bake goodies for our friends. It all goes with my personalized Christmas theme I'm following this year.

I've been rather busy baking in the kitchen, but having lots of fun.



Banana bread for breakfast.



Some peppermint marshmallows to go with some cocoa.



Cashew Coconut Brittle for an afternoon snack.



Peppermint Bark for an evening indulgence.



A box of treats to please everyone.

Baking for friends are done...now its time to have fun and bake with the kiddos. What are your favorite baked goodies you like to make each year?

Peppermint Bark

I love peppermint bark. I received this as a gift last year and I have been waiting for this time of year to buy some more. It is so delicious, but since, I've been rather busy, when I finally found the chance to buy it, to my disappointment the peppermint bark from William Sonoma was sold out.

I decided I wouldn't put my craving on hold till next year by trying to make my own version. I looked at the ingredients on the box which basically had 4 things, dark chocolate, white chocolate, mint bits, and peppermint oil. How hard can that be?

Peppermint Bark
10oz of dark chocolate (semi-sweet or bitter sweet)
10oz of white chocolate
5 candy canes
1/2 tsp. of peppermint extract

After some researching, many suggest using Baker's chocolate for the creamy and smooth texture. I used candy canes as my "mint bits" and peppermint extract instead of "peppermint oil." I placed the candy canes (about 5) in a plastic bag and cracked them. I like the pieces a little larger so I didn't go crazy.

I melted about 10 oz of semi-sweet (you can use bitter sweet as well) in a double boiler and poured it into a 10x10 foil lined baking pan. The foil allows you to pull the chocolate out later. I cooled it in the refrigerator until hardened.

Next, I melted the white chocolate in a double boiler. Once melted, I added 1/2 tsp of peppermint oil to the white chocolate and poured it directly over the dark chocolate. I read that when choosing white chocolate, make sure there is cocoa butter in the ingredient list. I didn't find that listed anywhere other than Baker's chocolate.

Immediately, top the white chocolate with the crushed candy canes and refrigerate until hardened. Next, break or chop peppermint bark into pieces and enjoy.

This is SO good. My kids had no problem devouring every last bit.

Christmas Jello

On the cover of my recipe book I made (more on that later), is a picture of my rainbow jello. When E. looked at my cook book, he immediately said rainbow jello was his favorite recipe and that I had to make it again.

We decided to make this Christmas version together. I used my rainbow jello recipe here and cut the milk mixture by half and only used a 9x13 inch pan. I used three flavors (what just so happened to be in the pantry), strawberry, lime and cherry.

This Christmas version was a hit as everyone's favorite flavor in my house is strawberry.

This will definitely make it on our Christmas cooking list next year.

Merry Christmas!

Mouse Candy Canes

In middle school, I made these mouse candy cane treats as a fundraiser for the Spanish club. It seems like eons ago (maybe because it was). As I was thumbing through my latest purchase, Martha Stewart's Handmade Holiday Crafts book, I came across the exact same idea. It brought back such memories that I decided to make these for my kids classroom friends. I don't know what was crazier, cutting out 50 of these, or cutting them out the night before (and finishing it the morning of their party - which was also the morning I had to make R.'s birthday cake!). I know, I am crazy like that (hence the lack of sleep this past week). My husband thinks I am nuts for spending so much time on things like this, but I just can't help it.

All you need is felt (color of your choice), glue and candy canes.

Cut out a template. I drew it on paper and then started cutting away.



Glue the ear lobe (green piece) onto the ears (long bone shape piece).

Make a slit on the body and slide the ears into the slit.

Next cut some eyes with the felt and slide the candy cane through the ears (on the back) and voila, you have a cute mouse. Ah...such memories.

Teacher Mug

School is finally out! No more winter parties or birthday party to plan and prep for - finally! After a week of getting about 3 hours of sleep each night, I actually slept in this weekend. Oh, by the way, sleeping in for me means waking up at 5 in the morning).

I usually give gift cards to teachers each year just because I know they appreciate getting exactly what they want. However, this year, I decided to think a little more personally. Along with the traditional, I know, not that personal gift card, I made them a mug with the class picture on it.

It all started with a picture that I found too cute. I took it during their Thanksgiving feast so all the kids had their pilgrim's hat on. R. is in the front right in the center so it was perfect.

I needed some pictures of R.'s friends (to personalize their goodie bags, I'll blog about that later), so I was cutting and cropping this picture what seemed like a million times when I thought it would be cute to give Mrs. Allen a class picture and why not on a mug. Sure, everyone has a mug, but not with their class picture on it.

She can use it in her class during the year and since I actually do believe that Mrs. Allen is the best, I thought it would be fitting to remind her of that.

Sure, teachers, always say thank you very much for the gift and tell you how much they appreciate it, but you, in the end, really don't know if they truly love the gift. However, it's another thing when your son tells you his teacher went around to the other teachers and showed them her mug. Then, on top of that, what gave me the warm and fuzzy feeling was when another teacher came up to me (completely out of the blue) and tells me how much she loved it as well. So that made my day. This year, my gifts are all about personalization and I'm SO happy I took the time to do it. Have you ever made something that was so appreciated?

Nintendo 3DS for $101.44

Looking for a great deal on the Nintendo 3DS?

This is what my boys are asking for Christmas. Target has a three day sale on the 3ds. Buy a 3ds for $169.99 and receive a $50 gift card. Plus, if you spend $50, you will get another $10 gift card (Target Coupon found on their site). Target Visa holders will also get an additional 5% off. That drops the price down to $101.49! Oh, and if you bring your own bag, that's another 5 cents off. I bought mine in separate transactions and was able to use the gift cards from one purchase on another. If you want this deal, you better hurry, Target's sale ends on Saturday.

As far as games, I've noticed Bestbuy.com dropping their prices on various games each day. I was able to purchase the nintendogs for only $7.99 yesterday. It retails for $39.99. Today's game for sale looks to be Dream Trigger for $9.50 and that retails for $29.99. Happy Shopping!

Oh Christmas Tree

I know, I've been absent from blogging lately. I've been consumed with making Christmas gifts, planning a birthday party, and going to things like this:

A. is ringing his bells as he sings the christmas tree song. I know, the outfits are crazy, but when its your kid, you just can't help but ooh and ahh at every movement they make. I still can't figure out how they get 3 year olds up on stage in front of hundreds of people, but A. didn't seem to mind. On the contrary, he was having the time of his life, singing up a storm and I was loving every minute of it.

Christmas Savings!

Sorry my posts have been far and few lately. I have been so busy decorating, hanging lights, and making my Christmas gifts. My list of to-dos grow increasing daily and I haven't had a chance to take any pictures and blog about them. I've been sewing, stitching and making oodles of photo gifts. Speaking of which, I've been saving all my shutterfly promotional codes for one large purchase (since I only had one free shipping code saved up). I was shocked at my grand total savings of $116.50.

My total was less than what the tax would have been. I thought I got some great deals during Black Friday (yes, I was out and about all night), but this one takes the cake. For $2.58, I was able to make a calendar, get 50 free prints, make 10 Holiday cards, get 15 Valentine Cards (yes, I was thinking ahead), and create 2 teacher mugs! Isn't that crazy? What crazy deals have you gotten this year?